For this assignment I thought very hard about how I wanted to present the idea of appropriation. Originally I was going to use Google Earth to “take pictures” of places I couldn’t get to within the time limit but that idea left a lot to be desired. Instead I turned my attention back to the magazines that Richard Prince had also appropriated his ideas from. I enjoy the irony of appropriating the idea of magazines from an appropriator but I did not want to copy. Instead I grabbed two magazines that are both similar but also completely different. Cosmopolitan and Men’s Health. One a fashion magazine geared towards young and middle aged women, the other a fitness magazine geared towards young and middle aged men. What I saw when I opened both magazines were two very similar messages with very different conclusions. Cosmopolitan screamed “Buy this and look like these women!” while Men’s Health screamed “Work hard and look like these men!”. Neither magazine is inherently wrong in it’s portrayal of “Looking your best” but the juxtaposition of the two spoke to me. The pictures I came across in each also had a distinct style. Men’s Health is filled with tough looking, ripped men who are constantly straining or screaming, while Cosmopolitan had women in very elegant poses with a variety of clothing styles and props. The combination of the two, strain and elegance, is what I tried to relay here in my work.
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